Senior journalist Khalil Jibran working with a private TV channel gunned down in Landi Kotal
KHYBER/PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD, June 19 (SABAH): A senior journalist working with a private TV channel was gunned down in Landi Kotal.
Khalil Jibran was targeted by an armed duo on a motorcycle when he was returning home, Khyber District Police Officer (DPO) Salim Abbas said.
The DPO said that the journalist’s car broke down on a road near his residence in Mazreena area, where unidentified gunmen emerged, dragged him out of his car and shot him.
Jibran, who had previously served as president of the Landi Kotal Press Club, died instantly.
The assailants fled after the incident. Jibran’s friend Sajjad, who was with him, also sustained gunshot wounds.
Jibran’s body was taken to a Landi Kotal hospital for medico-legal procedures.
DPO Abbas claimed that Jibran had been receiving threats from terrorists.
Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has strongly condemned the killing of former President Landi Kotal Press Club Khalil Gibran.
The Prime Minister expressed his heartfelt sympathy with the family of the Khalil Gibran.
He directed the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the relevant authorities to ensure the immediate arrest of the murderers and strict punishment according to law.
The Prime Minister reiterated the resolve to take strong measures to ensure freedom and right to life of journalists.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur took notice of the incident and ordered immediate arrest of the culprits. KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi also condemned the murder.
Media organisations also denounced the murder and demanded that the KP government arrest the killers at the earliest.
In a statement, the Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND) condemned the gruesome murder of the Khyber News reporter and demanded the KP chief minister and federal interior minister to bring Jibran’s killers to justice.
The association criticised the higher authorities for their failure to stop such incidents.
Journalists remain at the receiving end, facing torture, abductions and threats across the country.
A first information report (FIR) of the murder was registered in the Landi Kotal police station against the unknown suspects on the complaint of Sajjad, who is also an eye witness in the case, the DPO told a private TV channel. The DPO said that terrorism provisions have been added to the case.
Meanwhile, the slain journalist was buried in his native village Sultan Khel, after several people attended his funeral prayer.
Prior to the funeral prayer, a protest was recorded by journalists, political and social personalities on the Khyber-Pak-Afghan highway where the Gibran’s body was also kept.
The protestors demanded that the journalist’s killer be arrested immediately.